I think it's an awesome approach. When I was in school in 1992 I took a class called "Computer structure." It was basically an assembly programming course, but we started on a PDP8, programming in machine language on the 12-bit front panel of the machine. One of our projects was to write a program that completely erased all of the memory locations on the machine, including the ones that contained the program. I think I got down to one populated location; it was surprisingly challenging. I did an independent project making a small programmable logic gate out of transistors, and with a bit more $ I could have made a 1-bit memory device. Definitely my favorite class in college. Working at that basic level gives you such a great perspective on what's happening under the hood of today's machines.

I'm not sure if this counts, but I once fixed a Commodore 64 with a fuse from a 1972 Buick Electra. The C64 has a big automotive-style fuse holder right there in the middle of the motherboard.